Texans' Defense: Really Kinda Almost Good, maybe?

[dalemurphy]

I think you have this backwards.

The Jets are running a 3-4 as they did last year, which is the same, but the version they are running is entirely different. Last season they were running a derivitive of the Belichick bend-but-don't-break 3-4. This year they are running the agressive Ryan version. Same base, different philosophies.

The Texans, on the other hand, are running "the same scheme, with more aggression" according to most of their players.

Maybe someone can find the off-season quote from DeMeco that I paraphrased above. But, if anyone between the Jets and the Texans is running the same basic system, it is the Texans.

Regardless of what any of the players say, this defense is dramatically different than anything we've seen here since 2006. I've read those quotes too but the question asked them aren't public knowledge. His quote you are referring to was on houstontexans.com. The quote was preceded by something like: (about the differences in the defense from last year). The question that was specifically asked has a significant impact on how it is answered. If he was just being asked about alignment or language, that would explain his answer.

I agree that the Jets and Texans are making a similar transition. Both are maintaining their base alignments (jets in a 3-4, texans in a 4-3) but are becoming much more aggressive. The Jets, however, have transplanted a safety and an ILB that played with the same coach, under the identical system the year before, in a very successful environment. I'm sorry our defense isn't as good as the Jets. I don't know what else to say. Rex Ryan has proven to date to be a better defensive coach than Frank Bush. Okay?

 

[76Texan]

The Texans are forward-looking though. They clearly think that starting Cushing over Bentley is going to get them where they want to go faster. They aren't competing for the week 2 championship. Regarding Molden, I think they wanted him to get more reps but he wasn't returning to form and then was reinjured.

All that being said, you have touched on my biggest issue with the Texan coaching staff. They seem to make a lot of quesionable internal personnel decisions. My worry is that these poor decisions aren't based on a specific philosophy but a result of poor self diagnosis.

For instance, Okoye continues to get more reps than any DT, while Robinson gets the fewest; the entire Dominique Barber fiasco; starting Ferguson at FS over Busing; starting Diles at SLB in the preseason instead of Bentley.....

among others. I just don't see a consistent pattern to suggest why these decisions are made. People argue that Okoye plays because he's a first rounder. But, Brown lost reps last season at LT even though he was better than Salaam. Bennett lost his job to Petey last season. Molden, a 3rd rounder, couldn't get on the field. Diles is starting over Adibi, etc...


Your point about the Texans being concerned about experience and making moves to take care of it assumes the Texans were concerned about experience. Perhaps they expected this steep learning curve and were willing to deal with these early season struggles and they think it is going to payoff as the season continues. It is possible that their plan and timetable is slightly different than yours!

The problem with forward-looking is that we are no longer a new franchise.

The coaches need to play those who are ready on the first day.
If they don't have enough players, they need to bring in some FA(s) to fill the gap.

If they decide to play those who aren't ready, it can set back the whole season. Which was what quite a few of us had warned. We could have been 0-2, and the whole fan base would have turned.

 

[dalemurphy]

The problem with forward-looking is that we are no longer a new franchise.

The coaches need to play those who are ready on the first day.
If they don't have enough players, they need to bring in some FA(s) to fill the gap.

If they decide to play those who aren't ready, it can set back the whole season. Which was what quite a few of us had warned. We could have been 0-2, and the whole fan base would have turned.

I'm glad they don't make decisions based on the fanbase. If they did, we'd have Vince Young on our team right now. But, I share your frustration with the way some of the off-season was handled. I was screaming for them to spend a few bucks to get someone like Sean Jones to compete at safety instead of handing over the job to Dominique Barber. Also, I thought Bentley should've been starting at SLB until Cushing could win the job. Regardless of those disagreements I have with the organization, I'm excited that this defense is making plays and see reasons to hope for significant improvement.